Improvement in elevated railways



i infirm, WYWHTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C UNirsD STATES .PATENT Fries..

IMPROVEMENT IN ELEVATED RAILWAYS.

Specilcation forming part of' Letters Patent No. 79,952, dated :luly 14, 1868.

To all icl/om it may concern:

Be it known that I, lt. A. OHESERROUGH, ot' the city, county, and State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Elevated Railroads, otl which the following isnl full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accom panyin g drawing, forming part of this specication,'and which represents a partly-sectional longitudinal elevation ot' a railroad constructed in accordance with my improvement, and showing, by red lines,'a carin position to be raised from one sectionl to another o the track, to establish continuous travel.

Railroads have before been structcd To form gravity of the cai' in descending the should be su'llcient to eli-'ect its propulsion as, for instance, at coal-mines, and where the weight ofthe loaded car or truck in its descent has been made available, by means ot'an endless chain or rope, to draw in an opposite direction a corresponding but empty truck up a parallel line ot' rails havin g a reverse inclination to the lille on which the descending car Furthermore, such roads have also been constructed of a serrated character, and in some cases the car raised frommne elevation to another up a steep connecting inclined plane by means of a chain or rope.

My improvement, however, essentially dit'- i'ers from all such previous methods of construction and operation, and is more specially designed for railways ot' an elevated character l'or use in cities or elsewhere 5 and said invention consists in a track composed ot' a series of inclined planes, with interposed elevating-platforms to raise the car from the foot of one inclined plane to the head of the next, the car descending the inclined planes by its gravity and being elevated, through the platform, as described, to pass it from one inclined plane to another, by stationary poweras, for instance, through a ram operated by compressed air drawn from a reservoir supplied by a steam or other engine, or by hydrostatic pressure as derived from the water iu the street-mains ot' a city.

By this my improvement traction-ropes are dispensed with and a most convenient and economical means ot' transport established for city passenger and other like travel. f

for the Having thus fully explained the character operation, the following brief description, with reference to the accompanying drawing, will sut'ce to show how the same is or may be carried in to eii'ect.

In said drawing, A and B represent two sections in part, and of which there may be any number in succession, ota line ot' railway, for travel in one direction, said sections bein sustained by suitable piers or supports and of such an inclination or grade as that thecar will, by its gravity, descend the same. Though such proportions may be varied. it will answer purpose of illustration to suppose the continuous sections to be in half-mile lengths, with a grade ol" twenty feet to lthe mile, or thereabout. Such sections, that are of a steplike character, are connected at their junctiem-that is, the foot of' one inclined plane with the head of the next-by an elevatingplatform, C, which serves to lift the car from the section A to the section P. Acorresponding arrangement or construction and combination of inclined planes with elevating-platforms is or maybe applied to a parallel track, only with the grades reversed, for accommodating travel in an opposite direction.

Brakes may be used on the car for controlling its run down the inclines, and any other suitable means in addition, if requisite, or variation in grade oi.l the track be adopted for checking its descent or arrestin g it at foot of the incline, while, to start the car after it has been raised from one section to another, the elevating-platform G may have a suitable in` clination or set given it, or any other special means for the purpose be employed.

The platforms G, at the junction of the inclines, may be operated by any suitable niiechanical means to give them, with the car resting thereon, the necessary lift,

I prefer, as in many respects superior to other means, to use a cylinder, D, and piston or ram, E, supplied and acted upon, say, by compressed air, drawn as required by turning a tap, a, of a connecting-pipe, Z1, from a reservoir, F, to lift the platform, while by shutting the tap a and opening an air-escape tap or cock, c, the platform is er may be lowered. To produce this action air may be pumped or forced into the reservoir F by a stationary steam-engine, or by hydrostatic pressure derived from water in the city mains or otherwise, or water under a sullicient head be applied direct to operate the rams of the elevatpassengers to get in and out.

In this way or by other analogous means may an elevated railway for city passenger traffic be constructed and Worked most ecoinnnically and advantageously, dispensing with all locomotive driving contrivances, ropes, (which are ever liable to break and expensive to work,) or other objectionable means of a tractional character.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

An elevatedrailway composed of inclined pl anos or sections, arranged substantially as described, in combination with elevating-platforms at the junctions of the sections, and operated by stationary motive power to establish coi'itinuity of the sections, as herein set forth. I

ROBT. A. UHESEBROUGH. lVitnesses J. W. Coon/ms, EDWD. l Timer. 

